When a microbe was found munching on a plastic bottle in a rubbish dump, it promised a recycling revolution. Now scientists are attempting to turbocharge those powers in a bid to solve our waste crisis. But will it work?
When a microbe was found munching on a plastic bottle in a rubbish dump, it promised a recycling revolution. Now scientists are attempting to turbocharge those powers in a bid to solve our waste crisis. But will it work?
This bacteria eats only one type of plastic (PET), and that’s a minority of the plastic we produce
Related, half of the plastic pollution in the oceans is fishing nets; want less plastic in the environment, stopping fishing would be a better first step (and is required for many other reasons anyway)
The other fun trick with the plastic eating bacteria articles is to never mention what the bacteria produces from the plastic. Let the reader assume that whatever is being produced is better than the plastic itself.
Holy shit the net thing is shocking, I have never heard that before.
They’ll stop fishing soon anyway when the natural stocks have completely collapsed.😭
PET is one of the most worrying plastics because it’s soft and sheds microplastic easily.
Also, microorganisms are fairly easy to adapt to other food sources because of how rapidly they evolve. Coupled with genetic modification I don’t think it’s impossible for this to be adapted to all forms of soft plastic.
And while this is good. It is also going to cause problems when bacteria starts eating plastic we don’t want it too.
PET is also probably the most already-recycled and recyclable plastic we use. While it is objectively a good thing we now have a new way to recycle something, it’s not going to have the huge impact that the phrase “change the world” implies.
News headlines over-representing scientific advancement as a way of boosting morale sets people up for disappointment and complacency.
There are very different types of plastics in this world that each have their own formulas, dangers, benefits and recyclability. One things you can do for both the world and your health is to learn some of the high-level differences.
This is the most globally-accurate guide i have found for plastic identification and recyclability info
Tl;dr image summary of above content. We only really recycle plastics marked 1 PET, 2 HDPE, 4 LDPE and 5 PP at the moment
If you can find a way to reduce use of 3 PVC, 6 PS and 7 Other / unmarked plastics in your lives, please do so.
Tangent: only 2 and 5 should be used for food/medical if you are also heating it, especially acidic things. If you are in a situation where you can’t avoid that, low heat, less time and you will minimise or likely entirely avoid problems.
Fishing nets are the most common waste, in the most common place that fishing nets are used.